BrickLink Designer Program Ongoing Discussion Thread

[Yoggington]

I've worked through all the BDP6 votes, and I found 19 worthy of a 'love it'. There are some unnecessarily large options in there. 4000 pieces is a limit, not a target!

For the ones I think I'd definitely buy should they be made, just these four:

• The Scalawag Sloop is beautiful and just 550 pieces.
• The Horizon Starfighter is a cracking spaceship and reminds me strongly of the type of thing Galactic Plastics makes.
• I am once again requesting they make the stilted Fisherman's House a reality. There's something very whimsical about the whole look.
• The Sushi Restaurant is just crammed with detail.

I'd love to give special attention to this one, as the outside is a bit boxey, so people might quickly pass it by, but the details are superb if you stop to take it in;

• The Lake Pavillion

After those, there are some good but very large sets, that I don't know if I have the cash or space for. Like the Art Gallery / Ancient Bazaar / Pirate Villa / Sequoia Tree Trail / Working Windmill / numerous castles.

[Retrocity]

Besides Scalawag Sloop, another smaller set that I really like from BDP6 is the Cozy Little Cottage.

[MAB]

16 hours ago, Yoggington said:

I've worked through all the BDP6 votes, and I found 19 worthy of a 'love it'. There are some unnecessarily large options in there. 4000 pieces is a limit, not a target!

 

Remember that designers get 5% of net sales and the larger a set, the higher the price. With a fixed allocation, significantly larger sets bring in significantly more reward than small ones. It then becomes a balance of being 'big' vs 'small' and getting chosen for the ones that make it to production. If you are going big, I imagine the probability of being selected is no different for a 3000 piece set and a 4000 piece set, yet the reward is 33% higher for the latter. So 4000 is a target. The closer you get,the bigger the reward.

[Black Falcon]

6 hours ago, MAB said:

Remember that designers get 5% of net sales and the larger a set, the higher the price. With a fixed allocation, significantly larger sets bring in significantly more reward than small ones. It then becomes a balance of being 'big' vs 'small' and getting chosen for the ones that make it to production. If you are going big, I imagine the probability of being selected is no different for a 3000 piece set and a 4000 piece set, yet the reward is 33% higher for the latter. So 4000 is a target. The closer you get,the bigger the reward.

That might depend, they stated that they are looking to make a mix of bigger and smaller sets with an average piece count of around 2500 pieces. So they aren´t just taking 5 Sets they like but also pay attention to this. But basically since you don´t know which other sets will be there, it is kinda pointless to try predict it.

[MAB]

1 hour ago, Black Falcon said:

That might depend, they stated that they are looking to make a mix of bigger and smaller sets with an average piece count of around 2500 pieces. So they aren´t just taking 5 Sets they like but also pay attention to this. But basically since you don´t know which other sets will be there, it is kinda pointless to try predict it.

Yes, but once your model hits a particular band in terms of size range, the bigger the set, the higher the return and presumably the chances of being selected are unchanged unless you change band.

[Yoggington]

On the other hand, am I right to think the smallest model has sold out every time? Maybe fulfilling the 30k is a better target if designers are thinking like that.

E.G. Both Art of Chocoalte & the Harbormaster's Office from the latest set are (imo) much better sets than Camping Adventures, but it's the one that sold out on Day 1. There is some price point where customers are willing to just buy it regardless.

 

That aside, I meant more from the point of view of some of these sets were just too big for my tastes / affordability. I like the idea of a castle on a bridge, but I don't have physical space for something that spans four baseplates, nor an extra €400 to splash four times a year.

[Black Falcon]

On 10/16/2024 at 7:26 PM, MAB said:

Yes, but once your model hits a particular band in terms of size range, the bigger the set, the higher the return and presumably the chances of being selected are unchanged unless you change band.

Well we don´t know exactly how they decide which sets they include, probably they first sort out sets that didn´t do well in the votes and then look at the sets that did really well. Lets say they take the best three of those if they aren´t to similar by design or theme and then look what they are missing still based on the size. I don´t actually think there is really such a thing as different size categories they pick from. I mean if we look at series 4 for instance, we don´t even have any small sets, but also none of the big ones above 3k, as all sets are between 1933 and 2760 pieces.

And we shouldn´t forget that with 5 Sets picked a difference of 1k pieces will be 200 pieces towards the average piece count.

[sporadic]

4 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

Well we don´t know exactly how they decide which sets they include, probably they first sort out sets that didn´t do well in the votes and then look at the sets that did really well. Lets say they take the best three of those if they aren´t to similar by design or theme and then look what they are missing still based on the size. I don´t actually think there is really such a thing as different size categories they pick from. I mean if we look at series 4 for instance, we don´t even have any small sets, but also none of the big ones above 3k, as all sets are between 1933 and 2760 pieces.

And we shouldn´t forget that with 5 Sets picked a difference of 1k pieces will be 200 pieces towards the average piece count.

Actually, they've talked about it a couple of times in the webinars and a couple of youtube videos.  The basic algorithm is to first pick the highest rated set, whatever it is piece count wise.  They eliminate from consideration all other sets in that set's theme.  Then they look for high rated sets that also somewhat balances the piece count.  Eliminate that theme too.  Repeat.  Note series 4 was an exception in the theme department due to other issues, which is why we got so many castle adjacent sets, but in theory, this is what they say they do. 

There's a lot of ambiguity with this algorithm and I think they leave themselves a certain amount of flexibility, especially for the later selections.  

[RichardGoring]

30 minutes ago, sporadic said:

... Note series 4 was an exception in the theme department due to other issues, which is why we got so many castle adjacent sets...

That's very interesting. Series 4 is my least favourite, and I wonder if that's why. I tried, very loosely, to rank them. Series 5 is my favourite so far, then 3, 2, 1, and finally 4. All very subjective of course.

[MAB]

Being a large set also helps with getting votes. How many people look at the detailed piece counts on the design page before voting, and how many just look at the gallery to vote where this information is missing? Maybe it would be better if there was some restriction into the total amount you could vote for weighted by part count, a bit like selecting a fantasy football team where players cost different mounts. But no doubt they want to keep it simple, with the flexibility that they choose the sets, as it seems to work in that whatever they pick they seem to sell well. For each round, five different sets could have been chosen and sales would probably be the same, the only difference is that different people would receive life changing amounts of money.

[Black Falcon]

12 hours ago, sporadic said:

Actually, they've talked about it a couple of times in the webinars and a couple of youtube videos.  The basic algorithm is to first pick the highest rated set, whatever it is piece count wise.  They eliminate from consideration all other sets in that set's theme.  Then they look for high rated sets that also somewhat balances the piece count.  Eliminate that theme too.  Repeat.  Note series 4 was an exception in the theme department due to other issues, which is why we got so many castle adjacent sets, but in theory, this is what they say they do. 

There's a lot of ambiguity with this algorithm and I think they leave themselves a certain amount of flexibility, especially for the later selections.  

Very interesting, thank you.

6 hours ago, MAB said:

Being a large set also helps with getting votes. How many people look at the detailed piece counts on the design page before voting, and how many just look at the gallery to vote where this information is missing? Maybe it would be better if there was some restriction into the total amount you could vote for weighted by part count, a bit like selecting a fantasy football team where players cost different mounts. But no doubt they want to keep it simple, with the flexibility that they choose the sets, as it seems to work in that whatever they pick they seem to sell well. For each round, five different sets could have been chosen and sales would probably be the same, the only difference is that different people would receive life changing amounts of money.

Well you can still see if a set has many pieces or just a few, so people that actually are looking for smaller Sets can just vote for them - but I also belive that most people will just look at the set and vote if they like it. And sure bigger Sets can be build more detailed and probably look more impressive, but I wouldn´t say that they will get more votes than medium sized just because of that. 

And we shouldn´t forget that the number of big sets is limited, as they always need to be balanced out - and if we are looking at the sets that we have so far in rounds 1-5 we only had one  Set close to 4k in Series one with an other 3,5k one in that series, and then the next 4k Sets are in Series 5 (and this time two of them) but also with an notably higher average piece count of the wave - and while it would be possible to make a series with 3 sets that size I doubt that will happen - I mean you would need two 400 piece sets to balance that out ;).

 

[mark1991t]

Got an email from LEGO. My order, for series 2, is on it's way.

[JohnTPT17]

Based on comments on Bricklink, it looks like Wave 2's starting to get shipped out across Europe. Hopefully that means the US will get them in the next week or two!

[JohnTPT17]

Instructions are now up for Wave 2!

[Murdoch17]

25 hours to go: Art of Chocolate is close to selling out, with the Harbormaster's office somewhat close behind. I wonder if they'll sell out by the time pre-order closes!

[JohnTPT17]

12 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

25 hours to go: Art of Chocolate is close to selling out, with the Harbormaster's office somewhat close behind. I wonder if they'll sell out by the time pre-order closes!

By my count, there's roughly 715 more Art of Chocolate and about 1,860 Harbormaster's Offices to go. I don't think either one will quite make it - but Art of Chocolate could be close.

I've also gotten shipping information for my two Mushroom Houses (one for me, one for my sister), but they're still not in transit yet. 

[RichardGoring]

I feel kind of sorry for the Lost City. But hey, about 10,000 sales is still decent. Will also make my copy that much more exclusive than all the other sets this round! Although I'll also build mine, so an open (and probably recycled box) won't actually mean anything to anyone.

[MAB]

15 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I feel kind of sorry for the Lost City. But hey, about 10,000 sales is still decent. Will also make my copy that much more exclusive than all the other sets this round! Although I'll also build mine, so an open (and probably recycled box) won't actually mean anything to anyone.

More exclusive in that fewer will be produced but presumably also very low demand so unlikely to sell even for RRP let alone a markup. I guess that is what is stopping resellers buying them at this late stage. With so little interest in it, they aren't worth touching. It is interesting, the increase in production numbers has probably hit the right sort of levels, high enough to last for some time and also appearing to make it less interesting for resellers. I'm seeing a lot of Mountain Fortress for sale in the UK, barely selling at £350 or even lower. The higher production numbers might mean they are less interesting to resellers overall, and going into the hands of people that want them as they are not worth investing in. I cannot really see any of these regularly hitting even 50% markup - there are simply better LEGO sets to be had from retail stores than buying these at inflated prices in future. Whereas when the numbers were lower, the more limited numbers meant they were more attractive. So that puts worldwide interest in the region of ~20000 +- 10000 for these sets.

 

[Murdoch17]

The Art of Chocolate is VERY close! It's going to be a photo finish to see if it sells out!

[RichardGoring]

45 minutes ago, MAB said:

More exclusive in that fewer will be produced but presumably also very low demand so unlikely to sell even for RRP let alone a markup. I guess that is what is stopping resellers buying them at this late stage. With so little interest in it, they aren't worth touching. It is interesting, the increase in production numbers has probably hit the right sort of levels, high enough to last for some time and also appearing to make it less interesting for resellers. I'm seeing a lot of Mountain Fortress for sale in the UK, barely selling at £350 or even lower. The higher production numbers might mean they are less interesting to resellers overall, and going into the hands of people that want them as they are not worth investing in. I cannot really see any of these regularly hitting even 50% markup - there are simply better LEGO sets to be had from retail stores than buying these at inflated prices in future. Whereas when the numbers were lower, the more limited numbers meant they were more attractive. So that puts worldwide interest in the region of ~20000 +- 10000 for these sets.

Yes, completely. I was poking a little fun to be honest. I agree that the production numbers are probably pretty close, and the huge number of excellent, but expensive, LEGO sets available on the market, combined with the Bricklink sets now releasing every six months or so, suggests getting close to peak LEGO.

Also, the fact that they are all made with current, in-production pieces, with potentially only an exclusive sticker sheet, means that it's pretty easy to part together the sets. And using Pick a Brick, it's not massively more expensive than the original set price, which also puts something of a ceiling on resale price.

I only ever buy sets to build myself, although I did end up selling a few of the first round Bricklink Designer Program sets. With the ordering mess up they had, I ended up with two copies of Castle in the Forest and three of Pursuit of Flight. I didn't want to call in and try to change the numbers in case it cancelled the order, so I sold the extras and also the LEGO Store modular, which I wanted to like, but in the end really didn't. I sold them locally to a guy who wanted two copies of all of them - one to build and one to keep sealed. I wonder how many of these sets end up being built, compared to kept sealed in boxes. I don't really understand the desire to do that, but I won't complain about it if that's what brings people joy.

[Wimmer]

So my Brick Cross is getting delivered today ? On Halloween…

I better make sure it gets picked up from the street so some lucky kid doesn’t get a “great treat”,… not the trick I’m waiting for. 
 

Lego should have thought of that I think ?

[JohnTPT17]

Stats in the last minute of closing:

• The Art of Chocolate: About 29,262 sold (about 738 "unsold")
• Harbormaster's Office: About 28,580 sold (about 1,420 "unsold")
• Lost City: About 8137 sold (about 21,863 "unsold")

This was taken from numbers about 30 second before closing, so they're probably going to be pretty accurate to the "actuals."

[Gkaiser100]

8 hours ago, Wimmer said:

Lego should have thought of that I think ?

No matter what lego did, it was gonna be dropped on Halloween. Even if they shipped it after or well before. Postal system is going Postal. 

Edited October 31, 2024 by Gkaiser100
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[Lyichir]

The two sets I ordered (Mushroom House and Brick Cross) arrived today!

I built the Mushroom House and it's thoroughly delightful. A great build with so many wonderful little details. Can't wait for the Mushroom Village set next year to follow it up!

[RichardGoring]

Exciting! Mine arrive tomorrow, but I am leaving for a week away tomorrow, so it will be delayed further for me. Really looking forward to the mushroom house, and future village. I saw someone pair it with 31154 Forest Animals squirrel build and also the insects from 21342, and it all looked great together.

Oh, here it is:

The Mushroom House incorporated into our whimsical forest display : r/lego